April 05, 2014

Third tour operator cancels trip to Egypt

Goadventure has now also canceled its package tours to Egypt, citing possible unrest and the travel warning issued by the Foreign Ministry on Monday.

GoAdventure said in a release last night that in place of the canceled tours, it would be offering packages to Turkish-occupied Cyprus and eventually, Turkey. Initially it said trips to Egypt would go on, and the latest planeload of tourists left Tallinn this week. All tourists will be brought home by April 12, the company now said.

The Foreign Ministry said this week that due to the deteriorating security situation, Egypt, including its resorts, should be avoided as a travel destination, uudised.err.ee reported Tuesday. Novatours and Tez Tours will end their travel season earlier due to the warning, the Consumer Protection Board announced.

Novatour will cancel all their spring flights and bring back their clients from Egypt, the company’s managing director Andree Uustal said. All passengers can exchange their trips for another trip to a summer destination of their choice until 14 April, and should the new option be more expensive, cover the additional costs. If the passenger does not wish a replacement trip, he or she will have to cover 80 percent of the costs due to expenses made by the travel agency.

On Sunday, unknown gunmen opened fire on a security personnel carrier in Egypt's Sinai region, killing one soldier and injuring three policemen, the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported. Egypt will hold presidential elections in this May after a coup d'état overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in July.

The U.K.'s Telegraph wrote today that a team of experts will visit Sharm el-Sheikh to assess the safety concerns for the thousands of British tourists who vacation there.